Electronic apparatus

ABSTRACT

An electronic apparatus comprises a casing having an electronic component inside thereof, a cover panel including a first side and a second side which corresponds to a longitudinal side when the first side is defined as a lateral side, an attaching part located near the first side between the casing and the cover panel, a first adhesive part located near the second side between the casing and the cover panel, and a second adhesive part located to be surrounded by the attaching part between the casing and the cover panel.

The present application is a continuation based on PCT Application No.PCT/JP2014/074657, filed on Sep. 18, 2014, which claims the benefit ofJapanese Application No. 2013-199747, filed on Sep. 26, 2013. PCTApplication No. PCT/JP2014/074657 is entitled “ELECTRONIC DEVICE” andJapanese Application No. 2013-199747 is entitled “ELECTRONIC APPARATUS”.The contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in theirentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an electronicapparatus.

BACKGROUND ART

Various technologies have conventionally been proposed for electronicapparatuses.

SUMMARY

An electronic apparatus is disclosed. In one embodiment, an electronicapparatus comprise: a casing, a cover panel, an attaching part, a firstadhesive part, and a second adhesive part. The casing has an electroniccomponent inside thereof. The cover panel includes a first side and asecond side which corresponds to a longitudinal side when the first sideis defined as a lateral side. The attaching part is located near thefirst side between the casing and the cover panel. The first adhesivepart is located near the second side between the casing and the coverpanel. The second adhesive part is located to be surrounded by theattaching part between the casing and the cover panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a view showing a front surface in an externalappearance of an electronic apparatus 1.

FIG. 2 illustrates a view showing a rear surface in the externalappearance of the electronic apparatus.

FIG. 3 illustrates a plan view of a casing 2 when viewed from a frontsurface side of the electronic apparatus.

FIG. 4 illustrates a plan view of a cover panel 1 when viewed from arear surface side of the electronic apparatus.

FIG. 5 illustrates a sectional view of the casing 2 and the cover panel1 being cut along a dotted line A in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sectional view of the casing 2 and the cover panel1 being cut along a dotted line B in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 7 illustrates a view showing a front surface in an externalappearance of an electronic apparatus 1 according to one embodimentother than that of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 illustrates a plan view of a cover panel 1 when view from a frontsurface side of the electronic apparatus shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 illustrates a sectional view of a casing 2 and a cover panel 1being cut along a dotted line A in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram showing an electrical configurationof the electronic apparatus.

FIG. 11 illustrates a plan view showing a piezoelectric vibrationelement.

FIG. 12 illustrates a side view showing a piezoelectric vibrationelement.

FIG. 13 illustrates a view showing a state where the piezoelectricvibration element is bent.

FIG. 14 illustrates another view showing the state where thepiezoelectric vibration element is bent.

FIG. 15 illustrates a view for describing air conducted sound and tissueconduction sound.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENT

<External Appearance of Electronic Apparatus>

An electronic apparatus 100 according to one embodiment shown indrawings is a mobile phone, for example.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the electronic apparatus 100 includes a coverpanel 1 as a vibration part and a casing 2 as an exterior part. Thecover panel 1 and the case part 2 are combined to constitute anapparatus case 3. The apparatus case 3 may have a plate shapesubstantially rectangular in a plan view.

The cover panel 1 may have a substantially rectangular shape in a planview and forms a part in a front part of the electronic apparatus 100other than a peripheral part thereof.

The cover panel 1 is transparent and is formed of, for example, a glass,an acrylic resin, or a sapphire crystal. Herein, the term “transparent”indicates that a visible light transmittance is 70% to 100%. The abovesapphire crystal is made of aluminum oxide (AlO₃) crystal and isindustrially-manufactured.

In one embodiment, the cover panel 1 may be a panel of a one-layerstructure having a layer made of sapphire which is disposed on thesurface of the electronic apparatus 100. Alternatively, the cover panel1 may be a composite panel (laminated panel) of a multilayer structurehaving such a layer. For example, the cover panel 1 may be a compositepanel of a two-layered structure configured of a layer (sapphire panel)made of sapphire which is disposed on the surface of the electronicapparatus 100 and a layer (glass panel) made of glass which is attachedto the layer. Alternatively, the cover panel 1 may be a composite panelof a three-layered structure configured of a layer (sapphire panel) madeof sapphire which is disposed on the surface of the electronic apparatus100, a layer (glass panel) made of glass which is attached to the layermade of sapphire, and a layer (sapphire panel) made of sapphire which isattached to the layer made of glass. Further, the cover panel 1 mayinclude a layer made of crystalline materials other than sapphire suchas diamond, zirconia, titania, crystal, lithium tantalite, and aluminumoxynitride.

The casing 2 forms the peripheral part of the front part, a lateralpart, and a rear part of the electronic apparatus 100 (also refer toFIG. 2). The casing 2 is formed of, for example, a polycarbonate resin.A polycarbonate resin, an ABS resin, or a nylon-based resin, forexample, is adopted as a resin to form the apparatus case 3. Only onemember or a combination of plural members may constitute the casing 2.

The cover panel 1 includes a display part on which various types ofinformation such as characters, symbols, and diagrams are displayed. Thedisplay part has, for example, a rectangular shape in a plan view. Aperipheral part that surrounds a display part in the cover panel 1 maybe black through, for example, application of a film, thereby serving asa non-display part on which no information is displayed. Attached to aninner main surface of the cover panel 1 is a touch panel 53, which willbe described below. The user can provide various instructions to theelectronic apparatus 100 by operating the display part of the coverpanel 1 with his/her finger. A display panel 52, which will be describedbelow, forms the display part.

<Method of Attaching Cover Panel 1 to Casing 2>

In one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, located between the coverpanel 1 and the casing 2 are an attaching part 601 and an adhesive part602 which cause the cover panel 1 to be attached to the casing 2. Thatis to say, each of the attaching part 601 and the adhesive part 602fixes the cover panel 1 to the casing 2. For example, the adhesive part602 is located on an inner main surface of the cover panel 1.

A double-sided tape, for example, is adopted as the attaching part 601.The double-sided tape includes, for example, a double-sided tape whosebase material, made of a foam, includes an acrylic adhesive on bothsurfaces thereof.

An adhesive agent, for example, is adopted as the adhesive part 602. Forexample, an adhesive agent for waterproofing or an adhesive agent madeof a thermosetting resin is used as the adhesive agent.

A member softer than the adhesive part 602 may be adopted as theattaching part 601. Such an attaching part 601 includes, for example, amember which is made of a cushion material (an elastic material)including a both-sided tape on both surfaces thereof. The attaching part601 is attached to the inner main surface of the cover panel 1 with thedouble-sided tape attached to one surface of the cushion material. Theattaching part 601 is also attached to an inner surface of the apparatuscase 3 with the double-sided tape attached to the other surface of thecushion material.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the casing 2. In FIG. 3, the cover panel 1 isnot shown, but the attaching part 601 and the adhesive part 602 locatedon the casing 2 are shown. The attaching part 601 and the adhesive part602 are located between the cover panel 1 and the casing 2. As shown inFIG. 3, the attaching part 601 and the adhesive part 602 are located ata fixing part in the casing 2 facing a peripheral edge of the coverpanel 1. To be specific, the adhesive part 602 (corresponding to a firstadhesive part) is located along a longitudinal side of the fixing partin the casing 2. The adhesive part 602 is, for example, continuouslylocated on right and left longitudinal sides and a lower lateral side ofthe fixing part in the casing 2. The attaching part 601 is located alongan upper lateral side of the fixing part in the casing 2.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cover panel 1. In FIG. 4, the casing 2 isnot shown, but the attaching part 601 and the adhesive part 602 locatedon the cover panel 1 are shown. The adhesive part 602 is located along alongitudinal side of the cover panel 1 and the attaching part 601 islocated along a lateral side of the cover panel 1.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the adhesive part 602 has an extension part602 a (corresponding to a second adhesive part) extending to a side ofattaching part 601. The extension part 602 a is surrounded by theattaching part 601 near a corner part (a rounded corner part in theillustrations of FIGS. 3 and 4) formed by the longitudinal and lateralsides of the cover panel 1. That is to say, the attaching part 601 islocated on an outer side of the extension part 602 a. Conversely, theextension part 602 a is located on an inner side of the attaching part601. Although the above example describes a specific example of thesecond adhesive part that the extension part 602 a is integral with theother part of the adhesive part 602, the present disclosure is notlimited to the above configuration, so that the extension part 602 a andthe adhesive part 602 may be separated from each other. In other words,the extension part 602 a may be continuous with/separated from the otherpart of the adhesive part 602.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are views showing cutting surfaces along dotted lines Aand B in FIGS. 3 and 4. The dotted line A is located in a center of thecover panel 1 in a lateral direction, and the dotted line B is locatedat an end part of the cover panel 1 in the lateral direction. In FIG. 5,the attaching part 601 is located in an upper center of the electronicapparatus, and in FIG. 6, the extension part 602 a is located at anupper end side of the electronic apparatus. The touch panel 53 and thedisplay panel 52 are located in a rear surface side of the cover panel1. The touch panel 53 may be separated from/in contact with the displaypanel 52. The gap between the touch panel 53 and the display panel 52 inthe manner of one embodiment can suppress the disturbance of the displaypanel 52 caused by the cover panel 1 contacting the display panel 52 (tobe exact, the touch panel 53 may contact the display panel 52) even whenthe cover panel 1 is pressed with the finger or the like by the user andthen flexes toward the display panel 52 side.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, a periphery of the extension part 602 a is incontact with the attaching part 601. An increase of a contact areabetween the extension part 602 a and the attaching part 601 can enhancea waterproof property of the electronic apparatus.

A comparison example of omitting the extension part 602 a from oneembodiment shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 is considered. In this comparisonexample, only the attaching part 601 is located near the corner partformed by the longitudinal and lateral sides of the cover panel 1, andsuch a configuration has a shock resistance compared with theconfiguration including the adhesive part 602 such as the adhesiveagent. The adhesive agent has a low tolerance for a force in a directionopposite to an adhesion direction (in other words, a force in adirection that the cover panel 1 and the casing 2 are separated along anormal direction thereof), so that when a deformation of the casing 2being separated outward occurs due to a drop of the electronicapparatus, for example, an adhesion force is lowered. Accordingly, theattaching part 601 is preferably located near the corner part of thecover panel 1 which is especially susceptible to the shock due to thedrop of the electronic apparatus.

Meanwhile, in view of the waterproof property, water may seep from theattaching part 601 and reach inside the electronic apparatus.

In the present disclosure, the extension part 602 a is located to getinside the attaching part 601 near the corner part formed by thelongitudinal and lateral sides of the cover panel 1, so that the contactarea between the attaching part 601 and the extension part 602 a issufficiently ensured. Accordingly, even when the water seeps through theattaching part 601, the extension part 602 a of the adhesive part 602can enhance an effect not to cause the water to reach inside theelectronic apparatus.

The attaching part 601 is located, so that the electronic apparatus inFIGS. 3 to 6 has the resistance to shock (due to the drop, for example).

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the extension part 602 a has a shapeextending away from the longitudinal side of the cover panel 1 andafterwards, bending toward the lateral side of the cover panel 1. Theextension part 602 a in FIGS. 3 and 4 extends substantially in an arc,and its center of curvature is located outside the casing 2 relative tothe extension part 602 a. In other words, the extension part 602 a has ashape bending toward a center side of the cover panel 1 in a plan view.Such a characteristic shape of the extension part 602 a can suppress adripping and a liquid pool when the adhesive agent as the adhesive part602 is located on the attaching part 601. Moreover, the extension part602 a is preferable by reason that even when the water seeps from acorner of an upper side of the electronic apparatus, the water flowsalong a curved surface of the extension part 602 a and is removedoutside the electronic apparatus. The extension part 602 a is notlimited to the above configuration.

In the electronic apparatus 100, there may be further located apiezoelectric vibration element 55 on the rear surface of the coverpanel 1 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The present disclosure is alsopreferable in the case of further providing the piezoelectric vibrationelement 55. In particular, it is preferable to locate the piezoelectricvibration element 55 near the attaching part 601 as shown in FIG. 9.According to such a configuration, the attaching part 601 is flexiblecompared to the adhesive part 602, so that the piezoelectric vibrationelement 55 can sufficiently cause the cover panel 1 to vibrate.

The piezoelectric vibration element 55 is attached to the rear surfaceof the cover panel 1 with a member such as a double-sided tape or anadhesive agent.

The piezoelectric vibration element 55 will be described below indetail.

A shock-absorbing part having a cushion or the like to absorb an impact(not shown) may be in contact with the rear surface (the main surface)of the cover panel 1. A state of “being in contact” can be achievedregardless of whether or not there is an intervening member, such as thedouble-sided tape or the adhesive, between the rear surface of the coverpanel 1 and the shock-absorbing part. The shock-absorbing part islocated away from a peripheral edge (the longitudinal and lateral sides)of the rear surface of the cover panel 1. There may be located thepiezoelectric vibration element 55 between the shock-absorbing part andthe upper lateral side of the rear surface of the cover panel 1.According to such an arrangement of the shock-absorbing part, a positionof a point where a sound volume is maximum in the cover panel 1 can beshifted to an upper side of the electronic apparatus in a longitudinaldirection compared to a case that no shock-absorbing part is located.

When an antenna 51 a (described below) for a wireless communication islocated in a lower part of the electronic apparatus 100, the point wherethe sound volume is maximum is preferably located in an upper part ofthe electronic apparatus 100 to the extent possible in consideration ofa problem of SAR (Specific Absorption Rate).

Moreover, when the user holds the electronic apparatus 100 to his/herear to hear the sound in a telephone conversation, for example, thepoint where the sound volume is maximum is preferably located in theupper part of the electronic apparatus 100 to the extent possible inview of a position of the ear.

As described above, since the shock-absorbing part is located so thatthe piezoelectric vibration element 55 is located between theshock-absorbing part and the peripheral edge of the rear surface of thecover panel 1, the point where the sound volume is maximum in the coverpanel 1 is shifted to the upper side of the electronic apparatus 100 inthe longitudinal direction compared to a conventional case. Accordingly,the point where the sound volume is maximum can be located in the upperpart of the electronic apparatus 100 to the extent possible.

<Electrical Configuration of Electronic Apparatus>

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration ofthe electronic apparatus 100. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the electronicapparatus 100 includes a controller 50, a wireless communication unit51, a display panel 52 as a display, the touch panel 53 as a proximitydetector, the operation unit 54, the piezoelectric vibration element 55,an external speaker 56, a microphone 57, the imaging sensor 58, and abattery 59. The apparatus case 3 houses these components.

The controller 50, for example, mainly includes a CPU 50 a and a storage50 b, and can control other components of the electronic apparatus 100to collectively manage the operation of the electronic apparatus 100.The storage 50 b is mainly configured with a ROM and a RAM. The CPU 50 acan perform various programs in the storage 50 b, so that variousfunction blocks are formed in the controller 50.

The wireless communication unit 51 can receive, through an antenna 51 a,a signal from a mobile phone different from the electronic apparatus 100or a communication device such as a web server connected to Internet viaa base station. The wireless communication unit 51 can performamplification processing and down-conversion processing on the receivedsignal and then outputs a resultant signal to the controller 50. Thecontroller 50 can perform modulation processing or other processing onthe received signal that has been input, to thereby obtain a soundsignal indicative of sound or music contained in the received signal.The wireless communication unit 51 can also perform up-conversionprocessing and amplification processing on a transmission signalincluding the sound signal or the like that has been generated by thecontroller 50, to thereby wirelessly transmit the processed transmissionsignal from the antenna 51 a. The transmission signal from the antenna51 a is received, via the base station, by a mobile phone different fromthe electronic apparatus 100 or a communication device connected to theInternet.

The display panel 52 as the display is, for example, a liquid crystaldisplay panel or an organic EL panel, and can display various types ofinformation such as characters, symbols, and graphics under control ofthe controller 50. The information, which is to be displayed on thedisplay panel 52, is displayed in the display part of the cover panel 1to be visible to the user of the electronic apparatus 100. In oneembodiment, the display indicates the display panel to display an imageon a front surface of the electronic apparatus, however, the displaypanel includes not only the above configuration but can also include adisplay to display an image on a rear surface of the electronicapparatus.

The touch panel 53 as the proximity detector is, for example, aprojected capacitive type touch panel and detects an operation performedby the user with the display part of the cover panel 1. The touch panel53 is attached to the inner main surface of the cover panel 1 andincludes two sheet-like electrode sensors disposed to face each other.The two electrode sensors are attached together with a transparentadhesive sheet.

Formed in one of the electrode sensors are a plurality of elongated Xelectrodes that extend in an X-axis direction (for example, the lateraldirection of the electronic apparatus 100) and are disposed parallel toone another. Formed in the other electrode sensor are a plurality ofelongated Y electrodes that extend in a Y-axis direction (for example,the longitudinal direction of the electronic apparatus 100) and aredisposed parallel to one another. When a user's finger comes intocontact with the display part of the cover panel 1, a capacitancebetween the X electrode and the Y electrode located below the contactportion changes, so that the touch panel 53 can detect the operation onthe display part of the cover panel 1. A change in the capacitancebetween the X electrode and the Y electrode, which occurs in the touchpanel 53, is transmitted to the controller 50. The controller 50 canidentify, based on the capacitance change, the content of the operationmade on the display part of the cover panel 1, and perform the operationcorresponding to the identified content.

The touch panel is included as the proximity detector as describedabove, however, one embodiment is not limited to the touch panel. Forexample, the proximity detector also includes a tactile sensor whichvibrates or transmits a sensation of touching a projection, for example,to the user's finger in response to a contact of the user's finger. Asensor as the proximity detector is not limited to one detecting thecontact such as the touch panel, but a sensor which can detect theproximity, even without the contact, is also included in the proximitydetector. For example, a proximity sensor is included. A capacitive typeproximity detection device which can receive the capacitance change moresensitively than the capacitive type touch panel may be also included.

When the user presses the operation button, the operation unit 54outputs to the controller 50 an operation signal indicating that theoperation button has been pressed. The controller 50 identifies, basedon the input operation signal, whether or not the operation button hasbeen operated and then performs the operation corresponding to theoperation button that has been operated.

The piezoelectric vibration element 55 can transmit the received soundto the user of the electronic apparatus 100. The piezoelectric vibrationelement 55 is vibrated by the drive voltage applied from the controller50. The controller 50 can generate a drive voltage based on a soundsignal which indicates the received sound, and then apply the drivevoltage to the piezoelectric vibration element 55. The piezoelectricvibration element 55 is vibrated based on a sound signal, whichindicates the received sound, by the controller 50, whereby the receivedsound is transmitted to the user of the electronic apparatus 100. In theabove manner, the controller 50 functions as a driver to vibrate thepiezoelectric vibration element 55 based on the sound signal. Thepiezoelectric vibration element 55 will be described below in detail.

The external speaker 56 converts an electrical sound signal from thecontroller 50 into sound and then outputs the sound. The sound outputfrom the external speaker 56 is output to the outside through a speakerhole 21 located in a rear surface 101 of the electronic apparatus 100.Located on the rear surface 101 of the electronic apparatus 100, inother words, on the rear surface of the apparatus case 3 is the speakerhole 21 as shown in FIG. 2.

The microphone 57 converts the sound input from the outside of theelectronic apparatus 100 into an electrical sound signal and thenoutputs the electrical sound signal to the controller 50. The sound fromthe outside of the electronic apparatus 100 is taken inside theelectronic apparatus 100 through a microphone hole 20 located in theelectronic apparatus 100 to be input to the microphone 57, for example.As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus case 3 includes the microphone hole20.

The imaging unit 58 is configured with an imaging lens 58 a, an imagesensor, and the like, and takes a still image and a moving image underthe control of the controller 50. An imaging lens 58 a which is includedin an imaging unit 58 is exposed from the rear surface 101 of theelectronic apparatus 100.

The battery 59 outputs a power for the electronic apparatus 100. Thepower output from the battery 59 is supplied to respective electroniccomponents included in the controller 50, the wireless communicationunit 51, and the like included in the electronic apparatus 100.

Although the speaker hole 21 is illustrated to output a sound from aspeaker as the above example, there is no need to provide the speakerhole 21 when a film speaker including a piezoelectric vibration element,for example, is adopted as the speaker.

Although the microphone hole 20 is located to collect a sound in themicrophone in an example of FIGS. 1 and 7, there is no need to providethe microphone hole 20 when the sound can be converted into anelectrical signal without a hole.

<Details of Piezoelectric Vibration Element>

FIGS. 11 and 12 are a top view and a side view illustrating a structureof the piezoelectric vibration element 55, respectively. As illustratedin FIGS. 11 and 12, the piezoelectric vibration element 55 may have along shape in one direction. To be specific, the piezoelectric vibrationelement 55 may have an elongated plate shape rectangular in a plan view.

A thickness of the piezoelectric vibration element 55 may be 0.5 to 0.8mm. A long side of the piezoelectric vibration element 55 may be 10 to20 mm, and a short side thereof may be 2 to 5 mm in a plan view.

The piezoelectric vibration element 55 has a bimorph structure, forexample, and includes a first piezoelectric plate 55 a and a secondpiezoelectric plate 55 b attached to each other with a shim material 55c therebetween.

In the piezoelectric vibration element 55, a positive voltage is appliedto the first piezoelectric plate 55 a and a negative voltage is appliedto the second piezoelectric plate 55 b, so that the first piezoelectricplate 55 a expands in the long-side direction and the secondpiezoelectric plate 55 b contracts in the long-side direction. Thiscauses, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the piezoelectric vibration element55 to flex toward the first piezoelectric plate 55 a in a convex manner.

In the piezoelectric vibration element 55, meanwhile, a negative voltageis applied to the first piezoelectric plate 55 a and a positive voltageis applied to the second piezoelectric plate 55 b, so that the firstpiezoelectric plate 55 a contracts in the long-side direction and thesecond piezoelectric plate 55 b expands in the long-side direction. Thiscauses, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the piezoelectric vibration element55 to flex toward the second piezoelectric plate 55 b in a convexmanner.

The piezoelectric vibration element 55 alternately enters the state ofFIG. 13 and the state of FIG. 14, thereby producing flexural vibrations.The controller 50 causes an AC voltage, which alternates betweenpositive and negative voltages, to be applied between the firstpiezoelectric plate 55 a and the second piezoelectric plate 55 b,causing the piezoelectric vibration element 55 to produce flexuralvibrations.

While the piezoelectric vibration element 55 illustrated in FIGS. 11 to14 includes a single structure configured with the first piezoelectricplate 55 a and the second piezoelectric plate 55 b that are attachedwith the shim material 55 c sandwiched therebetween, a plurality of theabove-mentioned structures may be laminated.

The piezoelectric vibration element 55 may be made of a piezoelectricceramic material or an organic piezoelectric material such aspolyvinylidene fluoride and polylactic acid. Specifically, when thepiezoelectric vibration element 55 is made of the organic piezoelectricmaterial, a polylactic acid film, for example, is used as each of thefirst piezoelectric plate 55 a and the second piezoelectric plate 55 band laminated. In addition, a transparent electrode such as ITO(Indium-Tin-Oxide, that is to say, indium tin oxide), for example, maybe used as the electrode.

<Generation of Received Sound by Vibration of Piezoelectric VibrationElement>

In one embodiment, the piezoelectric vibration element 55 causes thecover panel 1 to vibrate, so that air conducted sound and tissueconduction sound are transmitted to the user from the cover panel 1. Inother words, the vibrations of the piezoelectric vibration element 55itself are transmitted to the vibration part such as the cover panel 1,allowing for the transmission of air conducted sound and tissueconduction sound to the user from the cover panel 1.

Herein, the air conducted sound is the sound recognized by a human brainwhen a sound wave (air vibrations), which has entered the externalauditory meatus (so-called “earhole”), causes an eardrum to vibrate.Meanwhile, the tissue conduction sound is the sound recognized by thehuman brain when an auricle cartilage is vibrated and vibrations of theauricle cartilage are transmitted to the eardrum, which causes theeardrum to vibrate. The air conducted sound and tissue conduction soundwill now be described in detail.

FIG. 15 is a drawing for describing the air conducted sound and tissueconduction sound. FIG. 15 illustrates the structure of the user's ear ofthe electronic apparatus 100. In FIG. 15, a dashed line 400 indicates aconductive path of a sound signal (sound information) when the airconducted sound is recognized by the brain, and a solid line 410indicates a conductive path of a sound signal when the tissue conductionsound is recognized by the brain.

When the piezoelectric vibration element 55 mounted on the cover panel 1is vibrated based on an electrical sound signal indicative of receivedsound, the cover panel 1 vibrates, whereby a sound wave is output fromthe cover panel 1. When the user has the electronic apparatus 100 inhis/her hand and brings the cover panel 1 of the electronic apparatus100 close to an auricle 200 of the user or holds the cover panel 1 ofthe electronic apparatus 100 to the auricle 200 of the user, the soundwave output from the cover panel 1 enters an external auditory meatus210. The sound wave from the cover panel 1 travels through the externalauditory meatus 210 and causes an eardrum 220 to vibrate. The vibrationsof the eardrum 220 are transmitted to an auditory ossicle 230, causingthe auditory ossicle 230 to vibrate. Then, the vibrations of theauditory ossicle 230 are transmitted to a cochlea 240 and are thenconverted into an electrical signal in the cochlea 240. The electricalsignal is transmitted to the brain through an auditory nerve 250, sothat the brain recognizes the received sound. In this manner, the airconducted sound is transmitted from the cover panel 1 to the user.

When the user has the electronic apparatus 100 in his/her hand and holdsthe cover panel 1 of the electronic apparatus 100 to the auricle 200 ofthe user, an auricle cartilage 200 a is vibrated by the cover panel 1vibrated by the piezoelectric vibration element 55. The vibrations ofthe auricle cartilage 200 a are transmitted to the eardrum 220, causingthe eardrum 220 to vibrate. The vibrations of the eardrum 220 aretransmitted to the auditory ossicle 230, causing the auditory ossicle230 to vibrate. The vibrations of the auditory ossicle 230 are thentransmitted to the cochlea 240 and are then converted into an electricalsignal by the cochlea 240. The electrical signal is transmitted to thebrain through the auditory nerve 250, whereby the brain recognizes thereceived sound. In this manner, the tissue conduction sound istransmitted from the cover panel 1 to the user.

Bone-conducted sound (also referred to as “bone conduction sound”) isthe sound recognized by the human brain when the skull is vibrated andthe vibrations of the skull directly stimulate the inner ear such as thecochlea. In FIG. 15, illustrating the case in which, for example, amandibular bone 300 is vibrated, a plurality of arcs 420 indicate atransmission path of a sound signal when the bone conduction sound isrecognized by the brain.

As described above, in the electronic apparatus 100 according to oneembodiment, the piezoelectric vibration element 55 appropriatelyvibrates the cover panel 1 on the front surface, in other words, thepiezoelectric vibration element 55 appropriately transmits thevibrations of the piezoelectric vibration element 55 itself to the coverpanel 1 on the front side, so that the air conducted sound and tissueconduction sound can be transmitted from the cover panel 1 to the userof the electronic apparatus 100. The structure of the piezoelectricvibration element 55 according to one embodiment is contrived toappropriately transmit the air conducted sound and tissue conductionsound to the user. Various advantages can be achieved by configuring theelectronic apparatus 100 to transmit the air conducted sound and tissueconduction sound to the user.

For large ambient noise, the user can make it difficult to hear theambient noise by putting his/her ear strongly to the cover panel 1 whileturning up the volume of the tissue conduction sound. This enables theuser to appropriately have a telephone conversation even if the ambientnoise is large.

Even while wearing earplugs or earphones in his/her ears, the user canrecognize the received sound from the electronic apparatus 100 byholding the cover panel 1 to his/her ear (more specifically, auricle).Alternatively, even while wearing headphone in his/her ears, the usercan recognize the received sound from the electronic apparatus 100 byholding the cover panel 1 to the headphones.

<Earpiece Hole (Reception Hole)>

An electronic apparatus such as a mobile phone often has an earpiecehole in the cover panel 1 on the front surface so that the sound, whichis output from a receiver (reception speaker) located inside theelectronic apparatus, is taken outside the electronic apparatus.

In the electronic apparatus 100 according to one embodiment, thepiezoelectric vibration element 55 causes the cover panel 1 to vibrateto transmit the sound to the user. Accordingly, the cover panel 1 whichoutputs the sound does not have an earpiece hole (Reception hole). Thatis to say, there is no earpiece hole in the surface of the electronicapparatus 100. Accordingly, there is no need of the processing of makingthe earpiece hole in the cover panel 1. As a result, a manufacturingcost of the electronic apparatus 100 can be reduced, and a costreduction of the electronic apparatus 100 can be achieved. Especiallywhen the cover panel 1 is formed of glass, sapphire, or the like, it ishard to make the hole in the cover panel 1, so that the manufacturingcost of the electronic apparatus 100 can be further reduced by notmaking the earpiece hole in the cover panel 1. The strength of the coverpanel 1 can be enhanced by not making the earpiece hole in the coverpanel 1. Moreover, freedom in designing the front surface of the coverpanel 1 is enhanced by not making the earpiece hole in the cover panel1. Especially when the cover panel 1 occupies a large part of the frontsurface of the electronic apparatus 100 as one embodiment, no earpiecehole in the cover panel 1 is quite effective from a standpoint of thedesign. Since there is no earpiece hole in the surface of the electronicapparatus 100 in one embodiment, no problem that water, dust, or thelike enters from the earpiece hole does not occur. Since the electronicapparatus 100 does not need a waterproof structure or dustproofstructure for the above problem, the cost reduction of the electronicapparatus 100 can be further achieved.

In one embodiment, the vibrations of the cover panel 1 generate thereceived sound, so that the received sound can be appropriatelytransmitted to the user without the earpiece hole in the electronicapparatus 100.

Although the examples above have been given of the case where thepresent disclosure is applied to a mobile phone, the present disclosureis also applicable to electronic apparatuses other than mobile phones.The present disclosure is also applicable to, for example, gamemachines, notebook computers, portable navigation systems.

Although the examples above indicate the mobile phone including thetouch panel 53 as the electronic apparatus 100, one embodiment is notlimited to it, but the input operation may be performed on an electronicapparatus 100 which enables the input operation with hard keys withoutproviding the touch panel 53.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An electronic apparatus comprising: acasing having an electronic component inside thereof; a cover panelincluding a first side and a second side which corresponds to alongitudinal side when the first side is defined as a lateral side; anattaching part located near the first side between the casing and thecover panel; a first adhesive part located near the second side betweenthe casing and the cover panel; and a second adhesive part located to besurrounded by the attaching part between the casing and the cover panel,wherein both the second adhesive part and the attaching part arecompletely covered by the cover panel, and the second adhesive partextends away from the second side and afterwards, bending toward thefirst side, terminates in an end that is proximal to the first side. 2.The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the firstadhesive part is continuous with the second adhesive part.
 3. Theelectronic apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising apiezoelectric vibration element located on the cover panel.
 4. Theelectronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the attaching partcomprises a double-sided tape.
 5. The electronic apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the attaching part comprises a foam.
 6. The electronicapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cover panel comprises asapphire panel.
 7. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the cover panel and the casing overlap with each other in anarea, and the second adhesive part and the attaching part are coplanarin the area where the cover panel and the casing overlap with eachother.
 8. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thesecond adhesive part terminates in segment that is parallel with thesecond side which corresponds to a longitudinal side.
 9. The electronicapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second adhesive partterminates in an end.
 10. An electronic apparatus comprising: a casinghaving an electronic component inside thereof; a cover panel including afirst side and a second side which corresponds to a longitudinal sidewhen the first side is defined as a lateral side; an attaching partlocated near the first side between the casing and the cover panel; afirst adhesive part located near the second side between the casing andthe cover panel; and a second adhesive part located to be surrounded bythe attaching part between the casing and the cover panel, wherein boththe second adhesive part and the attaching part are completely coveredby the cover panel, and the second adhesive part extends substantiallyin an arc, and includes a center of curvature located outside of thecasing.